Micro-TESE refers to microsurgical testicular sperm extraction.
Many families deal with infertility, but recent medical breakthroughs allow patients to successfully father children even when the outcome seems unlikely. One of these medical advances is Micro-TESE, a method of extracting sperm in men with non-obstructive azoospermia (NOA).
Men with this condition, which is characterized by no sperm in the ejaculate due to sperm production issues, may have small pockets of sperm production in the testicles. Around 60% of men with NOA produce small amounts of sperm.
How it Works
The goal of Micro-TESE is to identify pockets of sperm and harvest the sperm within one procedure. The process of finding sperm can be lengthy, but the procedure is very thorough. Sperm obtained from Micro-TESE can be incubated into waiting eggs or frozen for future in vitro fertilization (IVF). During the procedure, the surgeon will search for seminiferous tubules that are most likely to contain sperm. Samples will be extracted and then searched for sperm by the lab technician.
Recovery
The procedure requires only a small incision in the midline of the scrotum, which is one of the fastest healing areas of the body. For this reason, recovery is often quick. An ice pack and pain medication will likely be all that is needed for comfortin the first 24 hours. The doctor might recommend that you avoid sex or strenuous exercise for about a week.
There is a small number of surgeons performing this procedure, and Dr. Yafi is one of them. Micro-TESE is considered to have high success rates.